Single-trigger mechanism for firearms.



PATENTED JAN. 2, 1906.

I G. E. WITHERELL. SINGLE TRIGGER MECHANISM FOR FIREARMS.

APPLICATION I'iLI-JD MAY 23, 1902.

'ITWII W/inesses:

I the counter-recoil.

TINTTED RTATES PATENT OFFTCE.

GEORGE E. WITHERELL, OF HARTFORD, CONNECTICUT, ASSIGNOR TO REMINGTON ARMS COMPANY, OF ILION, NEW YORK, A CORPORA- TION OF NEW YORK.

SINGLE-=TRIGGER MECHANISM FOR FmEARMs.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Jan. 2, 1906.

Application filed May as, 1902. Serial No. 108,662.

1'0 all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, GEORGE E. VVITHERELL, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Hartford, in the county of Hartford and State of Connecticut, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Firing Mechanism for Firearms, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to that class of firearms in which a plural number of barrels, of hammers, and of sears are employed and in which thereis mechanism by means of which aplural number of sears may be operated from a single trigger; and the object of my invention is to provide means for determining the order in which the several barrels shall be discharged or for enabling any predetermined barrel to be discharged at will. A device by means of which these objects may be attained is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which v Figure 1 .is a plan view of the rear portion of the barrels and of a part of the stock of a gun with parts broken away to show construction, the gun being broken down. 'Fig. 2 is a view in side elevation of the same with parts broken away to show construction. Fig. 3 is a detail diagram-view showing-in plan the hammers, sears, and intercepter-slide, the right-hand barrel having been discharged. Fig. 4 is a like view, but showing the position of the parts at the instant following the discharge of the right-hand barrel and during Fig. 5 is a detail view in side elevation, showing the relative position of the parts shown in Figs. 3 and 4 and after the discharge of a barrel. Fig. 6 is a detail view showing in plan the trigger and the rear end of the sears and couplers. Fig. 7 is a detail side view of the same.

Theinvention is shown and described herein in connection with a shotgun having a single trigger; but it is obvious that the invention maybe applied to other forms of firearms and those in which a plural number of triggers may be employed, and I do not limit myself to the application of the invention in the speprovided cocking-levers 5 and hammers 6, these parts beingof ordinary and well-known form and mounted in the ordinary manner in guns of this class, except as to parts of the hammer, and a more detailed description is deemed unnecessary. It is to be understood,

however, that in this specification a description applying to a set of parts applicable to a single barrel will apply equally well and is to be considered as applying to a set of devices applicable to another barrel of the same piece.

The hammer 6 is provided with a notch 7 into which the sear 8 engages for the purpose of holding the hammer in its raised or cooked position, and the hammer also has a cam projection 9 for a purpose to be hereinafter described.

A'sear 8 is mounted appurtenant to each of the hammers, and the rear end or sear-tail is overturned at 10, forming a recess within which a nose 12 on a coupler 11 projects. The couplers 11 are pivotally mounted on the sears 8, and each is provided with a stop-pin 13, which takes against the side of the overturned portion 10 of the sear and limits the inward movement of the coupler on which it is borne, the nose being located in said recess. The edges of the noses 12 on the couplers are beveled ontheir ends and sides and are located opposite each other, each being adapted to engage with the recess in the opposite sear without respect to the position of the sear-tail with which the nose is to engage. A cam 14 is mounted on each of the couplers, which ccoperates with the cam projection 9 on the hammer when these two parts are engaged, the coupler being located with the nose in its backward position. Coupler-springs 15, secured to the sears, press against the couplers and hold them normally with their noses at the inner limit of their play.

A trigger 17 is mounted on the triggerplate 16, underlying thesear-tails. This trigger is pivoted in a manner common to this class of guns and operates the scars by a back ward pull'on the trigger,which raises that part adapted to engage the sear. A trip 18 is pivotally mounted on the trigger in such position that its forward end may engage with either of the sear tails, the main part of the This trip is secured to a trip-pin 19, which projects through the trigger and to the opposite end of which is secured a trip-lever 20. It will be noted that by manipulating this trip-lever the trip 18 may be located in position to engage the sear-tail of either sear, but is adapted to engage only one of said scars in each movement of the trigger. I

An intercepter-slide 21 is mounted on the trigger-plate 16 in any preferred manner. In the form shown guideways 22 are formed in the sides of thesafety-stud 23, the intercepterslide straddling said stud, and projections on the forward end of the slide engage grooves in the sidesrof the tang-stud 24;. Thisintercepter-slide is enlarged at its rear end, and a guide-pin 25 projects into this enlarged end and forms a guide for the intercepter-slide, a spring 26 on said guide-pin holding the intercepter-slide at the forward limit of its play,

An intercepter 27 is located at the front end of the intercepter-slide and has an upward extension arranged to be interposed between the noses 12 of the couplers 11 atcertain periods, as at the instant after the discharge of the barrel and during the counter-recoil. The object of this is to prevent the premature discharge of the barrel immediately following the initial discharge in a double-barrel gun. The interceptenslide is of considerable weight and its inertia is not quickly overcome. When the piece isfired, all of the parts, including the intercepter, move backward, as the stud 24 of course makes it imperative that the part 21 and connected parts move backward under the influence of the discharge. Instantly the counter-recoil takes place and all parts of the gun move forward with the exception of the intercepter, which beingloosely mounted with reference to other parts remains quiescent for an instant, and this brings the intercepter between the noses of the couplers and prevents said couplers from operating during the counter-recoil and when pressure is necessarily though involuntarily brought to bear on the trigger. The light spring 25 normally holds the intercepter and appurtenant parts in a forward position and also aids in quickening the movement of.said intercepter after it has performed its function in preventing the operation of the coupler. Of course the intercepter only rests in an intercepting position practi cally for an instant, just when the counterrecoil would cause an involuntary pull on the trigger. The light spring quickens its action,

' and after it has performed its function it immediately moves into a normal position ready to act again. A further object of the spring is to permit the use of the gun in any posigionas, for instance, straight over the shoul- The operation of the device is as follows: The. gun is loaded in the usual manner by breaking down the barrels, inserting the cartridges, and swinging the barrels back to place and locking them. This operation cocks the piece, the hammers being now in the position shown in Fig. 2. It may now be determined which barrel is to be fired first by swinging the trip-lever 20 to the right or left, according to which barrel is to be fired firstthat is, if the right-hand barrel is to be fired first the trip-lever 20 is swung to the right side of the trigger 17 This operation places the trip 18 in position to engage the sear appurtenant to the right-hand barrel, and the trigger being pulled the hammer 6 appurtenant to the right-hand barrel is released and causes the discharge of that barrel. As the hammer descends the cam on the forward end of the coupler 11 rides down the projection 9 of the hammer under the force exerted by the coupler-spring 15, and the nose 12 of the coupler appurtenant to the right-hand barrel engages within the recess in the sear appurtenant to the left-hand barrel. During the operation of the firearm in discharging the right-hand barrel, however, and before the coupler has assumed the position engaging the recess in the lefthand 'sear, as above described, the forward movementof the gun caused by the counterrecoil has been so sudden that the intercepterslide remains in its rearward positi0nthat is, the gun is forced forward independent of the intercepter-slide. This causes the intercepter 27 to be located temporarily in the path of movement of the couplers and prevents their operation at that instant, so that for the instant the scars are not locked to-v gether. This operation of the intercepter-slide prevents a premature discharge of the lefthand barrel immediately following that of the right-hand barrel by any pressure that may be brought to bear on the trigger by the finger in the counter-recoil of the gun. The coupler having operated to connect the two sears, as above described, a second pull on the trigger will raise the right-hand sear and, through the medium of the coupler, the left-hand sear also, thus releasing the hammer appurtenant to the left-hand barrel, which is thereby discharged.

A detent 28 is located in a recess in the trigger, with its outer end normally engaging notches in the trip 18. There are preferably two of these notches, as shown in Fig. 6 of the drawings, and the detent is held normally in engagement with the notches by force exerted by a spiral spring 29. This serves to maintain the trip in either of the two positions, sothat a pull on the trigger may oper ate either of the two sears.

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. In a multibarrel firearm having a plural number of hammers and a plural number of sears and their appurtenant parts, a coupler mounted on each of the scars and adapted to engageand operate the opposite sear, a trigger, and a connection between the trigger and scars adapted to initially engage either sear and subsequently operate the other sear without changing its position.

2. In a multibarrel firearm having a plural number of hammers and a plural number of sears and their appurtenant parts, a coupler mounted on each of the sears and adapted to engage and operate the opposite sear, said into the upper recess, said levers rigidly connected by a pin passing through the trigger adjacent to the recesses and a spring-detent appurtenant to the upper recess adapted to hold the parts in positive position of adjustment.

4:. In a multibarrel firearm having a plural number of hammers and a plural number of sears and their appurtenant parts, a trigger, means intermediate the searsand trigger for automatically operating one of said sears after the operation of the other of said sears, a connection mounted on the trigger adapted to initially operate either of said scars and means for temporarily preventing the action of the automatic sear-operating means.

5. In a multibarrel firearm having a plural number of hammers and a plural number of scars and their appurtenant parts, automatic connections intermediate the sears whereby one of said sears may be operated after the other of said sears, a trigger for operating both of said sears, a connection mounted on the trigger and adapted-to initially operate either of said scars, and elastically-controlled means for preventing the operation of the automatic sear-actuating means.

6. In a multibarrel firearm having a plural number of hammers and a plural number of scars and their appurtenant parts, a trigger for actuating said sears, a connection mounted on the trigger and cooperating with the trigger to initially operate either of said sears, an automatic connector adapted to couple said sears after either has been moved, and elastically-controlled means for temporarily preventing operative movement of the triggerand its connection.

7. In a multibarrel firearm having a plural 7 number of hammers and a plural number of v sears and their appurtenant parts, a coupler mounted on one of said sears and adapted to engage the opposite sear, a trigger, a connection cooperating with the trigger and adapted to initially operate either of the sears andsubsequently operate the other sear without changing its position, an elastically-controlled means for temporarily preventing a sear-ac-' tuating movement of the trigger and connec tion.

8. In a multibarrel firearm having aplural number of hammers and a plural number of sears and their appurtenant parts, a coupler located on one of the sears and adapted automatically to engage the opposite sear, a trigger, a connection mounted on the trigger and adapted to initially operate either sear, means for moving said connection and elastically-re-- tractedmeans for temporarily preventing the automatic action of said coupler.

9. In a multibarrel firearm having a plural number of hammers and a plural number of sears and their appurtenant parts, a coupler mounted on one of the sears and adapted automatically to engage the opposite sear, a trigger, a connection mounted on the trigger and adapted to initially connect the trigger with either sear, means located outside of the piece for moving said connection, and elastically-retracted means for-temporarily preventing the automatic action of the coupler.

10. In amultibarrel firearm having a plural number of hammers and a plural number of scars and their appurtenant parts, a coupler mounted on one of the sears and adapted automatically to engage the opposite sear, atrigger, a connection mounted on the trigger and adapted to initially operate either sear, means located on the trigger for moving said connection, and elastically-retracted means for tem porarily preventing the automatic action'of the coupler.

' 11. In a firearm having a plural number of barrels, hammers and scars with their-appurtenant parts, a trigger, a shifting trip borne on the triggerand pivoted at one end and with its other end lying below the sears, the pivot secured tosaid trip and extending into the trigger, a lever having. one end secured to the pivot and its opposite end extending in the 1 same direction as the sear end of thetrip whereby the trip and lever have ident cal movements and means for-resilientlyh0ld1ng of adjustment.

t I GEORGE E.- ITHEREL Witnesses: i

GEORGE L. MASON, ARTHUR B. JENKINS.

said trip and lever in their various positions 

